2012/08/17

Hello Kickstarters

Have you ever wondered where Chinese superstars Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi andJiang Wen got started? Are you curious whether China is as successful in churning out movie stars as it is with Olympic gold medalists?

Then come support “The Road to Fame” and help bring this coming-of-age story to a worldwide audience!

“The Road to Fame” follows students from the graduating class at China's top drama academy as they attempt to stage “Fame,” the Broadway musical based on the 1980 hit movie. The stakes are high in China’s first official collaboration with Broadway – it sits on significant government funding, and if successful, the production might tour commercially.

At first glance, these Chinese students appear no different from the American characters they play on stage. But a deeper look reveals their intense anxieties with unique Chinese characteristics. They resent the corruption of showbiz in China, where money and connections do the talking. The first generation raised under the country's "one-child" policy, these kids are spoiled and lonely growing up – prone to discouragement in the face of obstacles in an adult world. They feel entitled to a comfortable lifestyle with cars, cash and real estate, and at the same time suffer tremendous pressure from family expectations. They also struggle with pedantic Chinese teachers and the conformity of Chinese culture in asserting their individuality.

Through the ups and downs of rehearsing “Fame” and preparing to graduate, these students learn to search for their confidence – their own voice – and their own path to success, however elusive it may appear. By telling this story, I hope to paint an intimate portrait of a modern China in transition, shaped by the hopes and frustrations of this post-80s generation.

Why Kickstarter? When I see a great story I want to tell, I just dive in. In 2004, I took a break from my Silicon Valley career and moved to China to pursue my film-making dream. Uninspired by commercial film production, I made a feature documentary, “Beijing or Bust,” about why six Chinese Americans moved “back” to China and their experience living in Beijing. The movie aired on PBS, but soon enough, I found myself back in the Internet industry, this time in China. Last year, I quit my job so I could focus full-time on finishing“The Road to Fame.” (By the way, check out the other feature documentary I’m producing, "Zanta.")

I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I like to bootstrap everything. For “Beijing or Bust,” I wrote, directed and shot the film while teaching myself how to edit by Googling my questions. But “The Road to Fame” is different – it has many more characters; its themes are complex; and it requires much higher production and post-production values. So far, I have funded the project entirely out of my own pocket. To complete the film we need more money to hire an experienced post-production crew.

More importantly, we would like to have your support in publicizing this film. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Encourage your friends to do the same. Donate $1. Donate $10 and get a digital download of my first feature documentary, “Beijing or Bust.” Stay involved in whatever way you can! More importantly, let’s work together to make these kids shine like stars, if only for 90 minutes in the film!

Oh, by the way, the film has been selected to participate in one of the most prestigious film forums this fall. Details will be announced in early August, so stay tuned!

2012/08/16

"Twitter (as well as similar types of ‘microblogs’, (most recently Sina Weibo) is particularly interesting because of the pace of its dissemination of information, which makes it possible to spread ideas faster and more efficiently than before. The fact that the information is all hosted offshore also makes it rather more difficult for Chinese authorities to target the site, whereas permanent websites and blogs are easier to attack. At the time of writing, the Twitter network is fulfilling the role of bringing together groups of people interested in rights lawyering more effectively than any previous method. Also, as some of the posts above demonstrate, Twitter’s networks are enormous and diverse; its jargon changes daily; the identity of its users is often unclear; it covers material both serious and frivolous; and it is transnational with no one location. In short, it is the epitome of a pluralist media source, and can thus be linked back to the concept of the post-socialist society."

2012/08/15

-Class A serial killer. I'm sure his mother is proud.
A massive manhunt for an alleged bank robber thought to be behind a string of deadly attacks. CNN's Steven Jiang reports.

http://youtu.be/KM7wp_W22qk

The most wanted man in China has been shot dead by police. Zhou Kehua was accused of gunning down a bank customer in the Shapingba district of the vast city of Chongquing on Friday. And of robbing and murdering several more people in the last few years. Described as a 'Class A' serial killer by the Ministry of Public Security, police even offered a £50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and chiefs even took the rare step of appealing to the public through the state-run TV station to help catch him.
One woman said: "I'm very happy (to hear the news of Zhou's death). He was such a savage."
"It is great news indeed. We feel safe now, with him gone."
So serious were his crimes in a country with negligible levels of gun incidents that hundreds of soldiers were sent up into the mountains with sniffer dogs to be briefed.
Police were out in force on the streets setting up temporary check points and making stop checks on passenger buses to see if he was heading out of town.
But he hadn't got far, officers shot Zhou Kehua dead just before seven o'clock this morning near a village in Qinjia-gang town in the same district of Chongquing where he carried out the final crime that sealed his fate.
http://youtu.be/vCtqo-LOaq8

When the Police are done watch what they allow to happen...
实拍警方击毙周克华枪战现场
http://youtu.be/f6gcYCCzHLs

China's response to the recent Aurora Colorado shooting in the US.

On July 20, the mass shooting that occurred at a theater in Aurora, Colorado shocked the entire public. The sole suspect James Holmes shot into the audience during a film The Dark Knight Rises, leaving 12 people dead and 58 wounded. After the shooting tragedy, arguments on gun control heated up in the United States. This week's Across America Talk will bring together guests to discuss "gun control".

http://youtu.be/m4M3g7kd3SI

China's Gun Control Regime

Even as official statistics show overall crime in China declining, a string of splashy gunfights and murders, along with a rash of gun-factory raids and smuggling busts, points to a change in how crime is committed.

2012/08/13

So sad to see Chinese hurdling legend Liu Xiang Crashing Out of the London 2012 Olympics! A suspected achilies injury put pay to his hopes of winning a second Olympic gold medal. Includes Unseen Footage of Liu Xiang re-emerging from the tunnel injured hopping down the 100 metre finishing straight and kissing the last hurdle! (possibly for the last time?) 07/08/12.

http://youtu.be/vyiQxz8Z0_E

After 2004 Olympic gold medal winner Liu Xiang was tragically injured for the second straight Olympics, Sina Weibo users unleashed a torrent of comments. As host Yul Kwon reports, users were divided between those who consider him a hero, and those who call him a failure.

2012/08/12

Gordon Chang, author of "The Coming Collapse of China" joins Simon Constable on The News Hub to discuss why growth in China is even slower than official statistics suggest and whether the fix is already in for the upcoming trial of Gu Kailai?

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